Thursday December 13 had been the end of the first semester for me, for that was the night of my last final exam. One week later, the date would be forever memorable for me because it was the day my companion and I were rescued from our isolation.
It was nearly sunset when the work crew had finally cleared away the snow from the north-side door. I sent Megumi out first, and someone quickly grabbed her suitcase while someone else wrapped a large thick blanket around her and hurried her to an awaiting minivan. I received the same treatment, arriving at the minivan just as one of the doctors from Campus Health arrived. As we were whisked away, I saw why the crew had not used the south-side door, even though it was closer to the street: a large oak tree had fallen over due to the wind and the weight of the snow, and just barely missed hitting the south end of the building.
We were checked, debriefed, and given plenty of food and water during the drive to the hotel. We were being taken to a suburb of a nearby city, a drive which should have taken about forty-five minutes with semi-heavy traffic, yet because of the number of fallen obstacles, the unprecedented snowfall, and the fact that most of the very icy route passed through rural areas, it was a very slow ride.
When the wind had blown off enough of the top of the snow, the drive through the darkness was punctuated by the sparse lights of rural houses, and I assumed that the residents were using generator power to keep warm and be able to see. I wondered how the livestock was faring, especially if the winds had damaged or destroyed the barns and the pens, but in the near-total darkness, it was impossible to see anything not immediately in front of the minivan or near the windows of the farmhouses.
However, for most of the ride, the snow level on either side of the road was too tall for us to see anything but the snow. The headlights were effectively brighter than usual, reflecting off the neverending rows of white. There were occasional breaks in the snow, which seemed to lead toward the sparse farmhouses or the occasional intersecting road.
"How long do you think we'll be at this hotel?" I finally asked.
"I'm guessing at least until Christmas, depending on the amount of damage in and around the dorm you guys were in," the driver replied. "But don't worry. All your costs will be taken care of. And most importantly, you two will be safe and warm. I'm just glad it was only you two staying on campus this year. There's usually about a dozen students staying on campus over the Holiday Break. With a major storm of this magnitude, it would've been a lot harder to get a larger number of students to safety."
For me, Christmas was never really anything important, probably because I had never had a family of my own. However, knowing that many people considered Christmas to be a "family holiday," I wondered what Megumi was thinking. Not only would she be on the other side of the planet from her family for Christmas, she also would not be in a familiar place for that important day.
According to the digital clock in the dashboard, it was nearly 10:00PM when we approached the suburb. I could tell because I could actually see streetlights ahead, and the road was in much better condition. I felt Megumi take my hand in hers, and I looked at her briefly, noting the expression of hope upon her face, and expression which had been missing throughout the lengthy drive.
If anyone noticed that we were holding hands, they did not say anything. To be honest, I believe they were all just thankful and relieved to finally be nearing the hotel.
*****
Megumi and I were given adjacent rooms. My room was small, with a single queen-size bed, a small table with two chairs, and a television with a built-in DVD player and VCR. A copy of the local newspaper awaited me on the table, but I did not care about the latest news. I cared only about Megumi, about what she was doing, what she was feeling now that we were finally safe and warm.
There was a tentative knock at the door, and soon Megumi shared the room with me, looking around. "Just like mine," she said, "only slightly warmer."
I shrugged and went to sit at the table. "It's definitely better than the dorm," I said, "but it is rather unfamiliar."
Megumi nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed. "The campus men gone?"
I nodded. "They decided that it would be better to return to their families tonight. Besides, the college may be paying for us to stay here, but not for them. They would've had to pay out of their own pockets to stay here, plus they didn't really have anything needed for an overnight stay."
"Not good. The college must change policies for these situations."
I shrugged, leaning back in the chair and closing my eyes. It felt good to be warm without wearing bulky winter clothing. It felt better to be safe. It felt great to once again be alone in Megumi's presence.
"You are so calm and strong," Megumi noted softly. "Were you not afraid at the dorm?"
I opened my eyes, looking at Megumi curiously, before realizing that she had not known me before I had seen her in the dorm library. She had not known how I had cried myself to sleep, how depressed I had been at the prospect of being completely alone for three weeks.
I told her. I decided not to inundate her with the details, but I did give her the general overview of my thoughts and experiences in the days leading up to the official start of the Holiday Break, and the time before I finally saw her through the door of the dorm library.
When I finished relating my sad tale, Megumi reached out a hand to me. I stood and approached, and she hugged me, her ear pressed to my chest. With a smile upon my lips, I cradled her head to me, stroking her hair, enjoying the closeness, the companionship, the understanding, the swelling love passing between us.
"I stay with you?" she asked quietly. "I get my suitcase and stay with you?"
"I would like that," I replied honestly, having secretly hoped that she would ask.
"I also not want to be alone. I never liked to be alone."
I kissed the top of Megumi's head, and she looked up at me. We shared an gaze of understanding, of love, and of fatigue, for it had indeed been a long day, and just as importantly, neither of us had showered in several days, and I for one certainly needed to stand under a spray of hot water for a while.
*****
As I lay upon the bed in my flannel pajama pants and wolf t-shirt again, I thought of the exotic angel in the shower. I had long believed that things happen in life for a reason, and that the people one meets in life all play a significant role in one way or another.
Certainly, Megumi was important for alleviating the isolation which would have otherwise plagued me during the long Holiday Break. She was also teaching me things about sexuality, although things had cooled a bit in that regard. And through her, I was learning about relationships, for, although we had not declared ourselves romantically involved, I was beginning to feel like it was a true relationship, for even when she was not in immediate sight or earshot, she filled my mind, my heart, my soul.
I thought of the enchanting student, separated from my sight by a thin wall and an even thinner semi-transparent glass slower door. I envisioned her standing underneath the hot spray, the water causing the suds to cascade down her bare skin, to reveal more and more of her natural beauty to my admiring eyes. Would she finally turn to me and beckon me to join her in the shower?
My hand made its way to my crotch, gently stroking the lengthening bulge through my meager clothing. I imagined us in the shower together, kissing slowly, her hands moving down my chest and stomach to grasp my unavoidable erection and begin to slowly stroke me...
I heard Megumi turn off the water at last, and I reluctantly retracted my hand so that my arousal would subside before she returned to the main room. By the time she stepped out of the bathroom, all was normal as I watched her emerge wearing her flannel pajama pants and her Hello Kitty t-shirt. Her hair was wrapped up in a towel, and after setting her dirty clothes and her toiletries beside her suitcase, she came to the bed, kneeling beside me and reaching down to caress my cheek. I closed my eyes, reveling in her touch, and I again felt my arousal begin to grow.
"What should we do?" she asked quietly. "We are here for several days or more."
"Five days at least," I said after counting in my mind. "That gives us a lot of time with nothing to do."
"A lot of time alone." I was uncertain if Megumi was stating a fact or "correcting" what I had just said.
What I was definitely certain about, however, was the tenderness with which she was stroking my face and the effect it was having upon another portion of my anatomy.
